Humanitarian Projects - Hospitals and Clinics

     Today’s post covers a few humanitarian projects for needy persons in the healthcare field in which we have participated:

 Low-vision equipment - Centro Cristiano de Servicios Médicos

     Centro Cristiano de Servicios Medicos, Inc., or Los Americanos Hospital as the locals call it, is known throughout the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean as a premier teaching hospital for ophthalmology and has the only school for optometry in the DR.  Half of the residents are from the Dominican Republic and half from other countries in the world, including India, Bolivia, and Ethiopia. Besides their work in the hospital, residents are expected to spend time serving in the rural clinics before returning to their home countries to practice.

Some of equipment that has been donated.

     After learning of the needs of the hospital, low vision training was delivered by a team of LDS ophthalmologists from the United States over several visits and necessary  equipment was delivered, including refraction lenses and a tonometer, a device to determine the intraocular pressure (IOP), or the fluid pressure inside the eye.   The hospital is making plans to expand their vision clinic area, and this equipment will allow Los Americanos Hospital to continue to treat low-income people with vision problems in the Dominican Republic.

Prosthetic Devices – Innovación Ortopédica

     Our church  partners with other organizations such as Innovación Ortopédica, located in Santo Domingo, to provide patients with orthopedic prostheses and physical therapy who do not have sufficient resources to obtain them on their own.  These donations of high-tech prosthetic limbs (mostly legs and feet) go to needy adults and children who are invariably extremely grateful for this assistance, as they would not otherwise be able to get work or attend school without it.

This young man lost his legs through frostbite -
 obviously not here in the DR

Mr. Gutierrez, two of the recipients, and a friend

Three more recipients - this is the second one for this little girl as she grows. 

       

     Approximately 100 donations similar to those pictured here have been accomplished with Innovación Ortopédica since the program began several years ago.  Mr. Freddy Gutierrez, one of the owners/designers of the prostheses said to Rob in appreciation for the Church’s efforts, “In reality, although we are in the business of rehabilitating others, this work is really rehabilitating ourselves.”

Echocardiograph Machine- Heart Care Domincana 

These are some of the patients and their mothers.

     Heart Care Dominicana donates its services to the poor. They even go to poor communities, where people cannot come to the city for services. The portable echocardiograph machine shown here was donated by the Church to allow Heart Care to properly diagnose patients with heart problems, especially children,  in these smaller communities. 

Elder Cornish, doctors, Hammons and Haws (Humanitarian Missionaries

     Although the Mormon Church donated most of the equipment cost, HCD sought other donations for the last third of the cost. The hospital expects that this machine will benefit more than 3,000 people annually.

Wheelchairs  - ADR Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación

Some of the recent recipients of our wheelchairs

    The LDS Church has been donating wheelchairs through ADR (Asociación Domincana de Rehabilitación) for several years. A new variation of this ongoing project provided funds for ADR to form a production plant with tools and parts for the manufacture of wheelchairs to provide work for those who are in need of rehabilitation. The Church then buys chairs from the plant for distribution through our partners.  Another 1200 wheelchairs were donated by the Church in a closing ceremony last week.  These wheelchairs are then given to those in need throughout the country.

Hopefully, you can see what nice chairs these are.

 Instrumentation for Opthalmalogy - Inden

Dr. Jacobs giving training the Inden director
of this department

     We were privileged to record the handing over of $50,000 worth of equipment for cataract, strabismus, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy  to the National Institute of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Nutrition (Inden), located in the Los Ríos city of Santo Domingo.  The Church not only provided the equipment to help poor patients, but LDS ophthalmologists donated their time to perform surgeries on patients with diabetic retinopathy and gave training to students and residents of the area.

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     We count ourselves extremely privileged to have been able to participate in these kinds of humanitarian efforts that bless the givers as much as the recipients.  We believe that this way –where everyone involved is blessed - is indeed the way the Savior intended that His needy children should be helped.